MEDIA RELEASE
July 23, 2008
Embargoed: 11:30 AM (AEST)
74/2008
Broadband, complementary health therapies and mortgages all on the up: ABS
Australians are now more likely to have broadband or consult a complementary health
therapist, and are taking on bigger mortgages as house values rise, according to figures
released today in Australian Social Trends, the annual snapshot of society from the
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Internet connections in Australia
In the eight years to 2006-07, internet connections jumped fourfold - from 16% to 64% - in
Australian homes.
Very remote areas had lower levels of internet connection, with under half (42%)
connected compared with two-thirds (66%) of homes in the major cities.
Broadband connections became more common than dial-up for the first time in 2006-07,
and twice as many households now have broadband as have a dial-up connection. In the
two years to 2006-07, there was an increase in people aged 65-74 years using the internet
at home, from 20% to 28%; this was still well below the 77% of 15-24 year olds.
Australia's health
The number of people visiting a complementary health professional (most commonly a
chiropractor, naturopath or acupuncturist) increased by 51% in the ten years to 2005.
Almost 750,000 people had visited this type of practitioner in a two week period.
The number of people working as complementary health professionals nearly doubled
from 4,800 to 8,600 in the ten years to 2006.
About one in five (19%) young men and one in six (16%) young women (aged 18-24
years) regularly drank risky amounts of alcohol in 2007.
While few young people drank enough to be admitted to hospital (about 1 in 1,000),
hospitalisation rates were up by 62% for young men and doubled for young women in the
seven years to 2005-06.
Housing in Australia
The average amount owing on mortgages for first home buyers doubled - to $213,000 per
household - in the ten years to 2005-06, consistent with the rise in the average value of
these homes, to $310,000.
First home buyers were also less likely to buy a newly built home (14%, down from 23%)
and more likely to buy townhouses or apartments (27%, up from 15%).
In the ten years to 2005-06 the proportion of households renting rose slightly from 27% to
29%. The largest increase was for people aged 35-44 years (from 27% to 32%).
Volunteers
In 2006, there were 3.1 million regular volunteers in Australia, with women more likely to
volunteer than men (22% compared with 19%). The highest rates were among parents
with children under 15, while the most time was given by people aged 55 and over.
Education, work and income in Australia
In 2006, just over half of Australians had adequate or better prose and document literacy
skills, about the same as in 1996.
More of us have qualifications such as a degree, diploma or certificate (up from 46% in
1990 to almost 60% in 2006). The proportion of Indigenous Australians with qualifications
almost doubled in the ten years to 2006, from 15% to 29%.
Over the ten years to 2006, labour force participation rates among people aged 55-64
years increased for women (from 31% to 48%) and men (from 61% to 68%). Labour force
participation also increased among mothers with children aged 0-14 years in couple
families (from 61% to 66%) and one-parent families (from 50% to 59%).
Women's share of the total income increased from 31% to 38% between 1982 and 2005-
06, with virtually all of the increase occurring prior to 1995-96.
Public transport
In 2006 about one in five adults (19%) in capital cities (excluding Darwin) used public
transport to get to work or education, up from 16% in 1996. Three-quarters used cars as
their main form of transport, with another 5% either walking or cycling. Sydney had the
highest level of public transport use at just over one-quarter (26%) while Canberra had the
lowest (8%).
More details are in Australian Social Trends, 2008 (cat. no. 4102.0) , available for free
Media note: While most of the articles in Australian Social Trends, 2008 present a
national picture, some include state/territory information. State and territory information for
a range of social indicators is provided in tables, graphs and commentary at the start of
each chapter and a 10 year time series of the indicators is available on the ABS website.
Australian Social Trends 2008 - selected state/territory information
NSW
Vic
Qld
SA
WA
Tas
NT(a)
ACT
Aust.
Regular volunteers -
women, 2006 (%)
21.4
21.4
25.2
21.2
23.0
22.5
25.6
24.1
22.4
Regular volunteers -
men, 2006 (%)
19.4
17.9
18.0
18.6
18.8
19.3
18.6
19.7
18.6
People with adequate or
better prose literacy
skills, 2006 (%)
53.9
51.3
53.6
54.8
56.4
51.0
53.2
68.0
53.6
People aged 25-64 years
with a non-school
educational qualification -
of all people aged 25-64
years(b), 2007(%)
61.4
59.3
57.6
55.3
59.7
54.1
55.5
71.0
59.4
Men aged 55-64, labour
66.7
69.5
67.2
65.8
72.6
61.0
71.0
71.2
67.9
force participation rate,
2006 (%)
Women aged 55-64,
labour force participation
rate, 2006 (%)
47.1
48.2
47.7
47.6
51.1
43.7
58.7
57.9
48.1
Women's share of total
gross personal weekly
income, 2005-06 (%)
38.5
38.1
37.5
38.4
35.0
43.4
35.7
41.1
38.0
Risky drinkers(c) - of
people aged 18-24
years(d), 2004-05 (%)
11.3
15.6
18.7
15.4
19.3
19.8
n.p.
16.6
15.3
First home buyers -
average mortgage(e),
2005-06 ($'000)
248.8
199.5
215.7
165.6
176.9
147.1
196.2 248.8
212.7
Renter households,
2005-06 (%)
29.4
25.9
31.2
28.8
26.9
24.7
40.4
29.3
28.5
Households connected to
the Internet, 2006-07 (%)
64
63
65
57
66
56
67
73
64
Households with
Broadband connection -
of all households with
Internet access, 2006-07
(%)
69
72
68
58
70
58
64
79
69
(a) Estimates for NT generally refer to urban areas only.
(b) Recognised qualifications such as certificates, diplomas, bachelor degrees and post-
graduate degrees.
(c) Drinking regularly at levels considered risky/high risk over the short term - 'risky
drinking' is seven or more standard drinks in one day for males and five or more for
females, and 'high risk drinking' is eleven or more standard drinks in one day for males
and seven or more for females.
(d) Data source is different from that used in the Australian Social Trends 2008 article 'Risk
taking by young people'.
(e) Data include owner-occupied housing only.
FURTHER INFORMATION: Media requests and interviews
Ilona Fraser: 0418 202 580 (Parliament House on release day)
Dean Souter: (02) 6252 5691; 0405 124 471
Statistical clarification
Andrew Webster (02) 6252 6228
Kerry O'Brien (02) 6252 5242
SOURCE: Australian Bureau of Statistics
NEWS 
